DUBAI: A Bahrain court ruled yesterday that prominent rights activist Maryam Al Khawaja be kept behind bars for an extra 10 days despite a UN call for her release, her lawyer said.
The Bahraini co-director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, who also has Danish nationality, was arrested for assaulting police after arriving at Manama airport on August 30.
Her lawyer Mohammed Al Jishi told AFP the judge ordered that Khawaja be kept in custody on that charge.
In a hearing held in the judge’s office, and attended only by Jishi and a Danish diplomat, Khawaja insisted the charges against her were “vindictive and fabricated,” said the lawyer.
Her arm in a sling, she countered by accusing police of attacking her at the airport. Jishi said Khawaja had to see a doctor during her custody due to her apparent trauma.
If convicted, Khawaja could face a maximum of two years in jail, Jishi said. Bahrain’s prosecution said in a statement that it was close to finalising its investigation in the case against Khawaja.
It said witnesses have said that Khawaja “took by surprise a female police officer and a policewoman when she hit them after they asked her to hand in her mobile phone as per arrest procedures.”
AFP
